As Lauren lay in a bath to ease her cramps, she had no idea what was coming…
Tucking my little girl, Essie, into bed, I stroked her head and gave her a kiss on the forehead.
‘Good night, love,’ I whispered.
She was my everything, and I absolutely adored her.
But bringing her into the world hadn’t been easy.
Throughout the pregnancy, I suffered with blood clots and was incredibly poorly while carrying her.
The labour itself had also been very painful.
But now I couldn’t imagine life without her.
We did everything together.
Earlier that day, we’d been shopping and went on a playdate round a friend’s house, so it had been a long day.
After I put Essie, two-and-a-half, into bed, I finished tidying up around the house and garden for a couple of hours, before getting into bed myself at around 9pm.
Exhausted, I knew it wouldn’t take me long to fall asleep.
But just a couple of hours after I nodded off, at around 11pm, I sat bolt upright up in bed.
‘Oww!’ I wailed, as pain rippled through me.
I went to the bathroom and saw I’d passed some blood.
Oh, it must be my period, I thought.
My periods were irregular and I hadn’t had one in about a year.
I popped a couple of painkillers, hoping the pain would soon go away, and went back to bed.
But just a couple of hours later, I was awake and in agony again.
This time, it felt sharper and more frequent.
The Paracetamol hadn’t worked, and I couldn’t stand it.
Maybe a hot bath will help, I said to myself.
As the bath filled up, I got in and gently lowered myself into the warm bubbles.
But as I sat there and tried to relax, the pain grew stronger and more intense as each minute passed.
‘I don’t remember periods being this painful,’ I worriedly said to myself as I clutched my stomach.
'Oh my God, I can see a head!'
Maybe I’ve got appendicitis? I fretted.
I picked up the phone and tried to ring my ex-partner’s mum, Hannah, to see if she could come round and look after Essie so I could take myself to the hospital.
But she didn’t pick up.
‘What am I going to do?’ I anxiously whispered to myself.
As I slowly stood up in the bath so I could dry myself off, I felt a sudden gush from between my legs…
It felt unmistakably as if my waters had just broken.
I couldn’t believe it.
As my head span, and adrenaline pulsed through me, I realised I was pregnant — and giving birth!
‘I’m about to have a baby!’ I screamed, as I looked down at the bath water.
I was in shock, and didn’t have much time to process what was going on.
But right after my waters broke, I felt a pressure down below.
As I squatted down, I found myself pushing with all my might.
‘Oh my God, I can see a head!’ I exclaimed.
None of it felt real.
Suddenly, my baby slid out into the bath.
‘I’ve just had a baby boy!’ I said, cradling him, in total disbelief.
It must have taken a total of six minutes from realising I was in labour to holding my newborn.
Still dazed and balancing my baby in the crook of one arm, I grabbed my phone with my other hand and dialled 999.
‘How can we help?’ the operator said.
‘Can you send me an ambulance please?’ I babbled. ‘I’ve just had a baby in the bath and I didn’t know I was pregnant!’
'Mummy has a surprise for you'
‘We’re sending someone out to you straightaway,’ the operator replied.
I quickly went into mum mode, and with my new baby in my arms, I wrapped him up in my dressing gown that I’d chucked on the landing.
The ambulance came within six minutes, and I carried him down so I could let them in.
I don’t think the paramedics expected him to still be attached to me!
‘We’ll just get you on the sofa so we can cut the cord,’ one of the medics said as they gestured to us to go into the living room.
‘We need to take you to hospital now, just to make sure everything’s OK,’ another said.
‘My daughter is asleep upstairs, I need to ring someone to look after her,’ I said.
I picked up my phone and tried to get through to Hannah again.
This time, she picked up.
‘Sorry to ring you at this time but, you won’t believe this, I’ve just had a baby!’ I said.
‘I’m sorry? What?’ she replied.
‘I’ll explain later,’ I said. ‘Can you come round and look after Essie please? We’re being taken to hospital.’
‘You’re joking, right?’ she replied, still stunned.
‘No, I really did just have a baby,’ I repeated. ‘Here, you can speak to one of the paramedics.’
I passed the phone over and realising it wasn’t some prank, Hannah rushed over so we could go to hospital.
But I still don’t think she could believe her eyes.
When we arrived, we were taken to a private room where Albie, as I’d named him, was checked out, cleaned up and weighed.
I was taken to theatre as I had suffered a third-degree tear during the birth, so needed to be stitched up.
When the doctor came in, he explained to me what had happened.
‘You’ve had a cryptic pregnancy,’ he said.
‘What’s that?’ I asked.
‘It’s also known as a stealth pregnancy,’ he said. ‘It’s when you don’t know you’re pregnant until you have the baby. We’re not sure why it’s happened though.’
‘That would explain why I’d felt so poorly the past few months,’ I replied.
I’d been to the doctors where I’d had blood tests.
I also had to wear a heart monitor at one point, but no one could work out what was wrong with me.
And because it was normal for me not to have regular periods, that hadn’t rung alarm bells.
The pregnancy signs just weren’t there, so it hadn’t crossed my mind at all.
I hadn’t gained much weight and could still wear my size 6 clothes while unknowingly expecting.
And even more incredibly, Albie weighed almost 8lb, so he wasn’t exactly the smallest!
The doctors managed to work out that I was 40 weeks and four days pregnant when I gave birth to him.
I was allowed to leave the hospital 12 hours after arriving, but before I could be discharged, I had to order a car seat and get it delivered to the hospital so I could safely get Albie home.
Albie and Essie had the same dad, but we hadn’t been together at the time.
As soon as Hannah told Albie’s father and his family what happened, they rushed out to a 24-hour supermarket to get him everything a new baby needed, as I had nothing.
I’ve got to tell Essie, I thought as I gazed at Albie, still baffled that he was mine.
I FaceTimed her from my bed that morning once I knew she was awake.
‘Morning honey, Mummy has a surprise for you,’ I said as I panned the phone towards Albie, who was dozing.
‘Aw, cute baby,’ she cooed.
‘He’s your new brother, Albie,’ I said.
‘Can you bring him home then?’ she smiled.
‘Yes, he can’t wait to meet you,’ I replied.
In just 12 hours, we’d gone from a family of two to three.
Now, Albie is six months old and the shock still hasn’t completely worn off.
I never wanted a second baby as the first labour was so painful, so it’s funny how I had a second surprise pregnancy a couple of years later.
I’m so baffled how it happened — but I wouldn’t change it for the world!
Lauren Newey, 22, Brierley Hill, West Midlands